1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sewing machine having a bed portion, an arm portion extending parallel with the bed portion, and a cover capable of at least partially covering a space between the bed portion and the arm portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of sewing machines are known in the art. Sewing machines have a frame with a bed portion, a column portion extending upright from the bed portion, and an arm portion extending from the column portion in a horizontal direction over the bed portion in parallel with the bed portion.
In some sewing machines, the bed portion includes a free arm portion at the end not connected to the column portion. The free arm portion enables the user to easily sew patterns on or stitches in bags or cylindrical-shaped objects, such as shirt sleeves and cuffs of pants.
Japanese Utility-Model-Application Publication No. SHO-63-21265 discloses a sewing machine with a cover capable of at least partially covering the bed portion and the arm portion of the sewing machine and also capable of serving as a supplementary table for increasing work surface of the bed portion during the sewing.
There are also a variety of embroidery sewing machines capable of performing embroidery sewing operations in addition to normal sewing operations. Such embroidery sewing machines include: an embroidery frame in which a workpiece cloth is supported; and left-right and front-rear embroidery-frame drive mechanisms for independently driving movement of the embroidery frame leftward, rightward, frontward, and rearward across the work surface of the bed.
Embroidery sewing machines can be divided into two major types: internal embroidery-frame drive mechanism types, wherein the embroidery-frame drive mechanism for driving the embroidery frame is accommodated in the bed portion of the embroidery sewing machine; and detachable embroidery-frame drive mechanism types, wherein the embroidery-frame drive mechanism of the embroidery frame is detachable provided to the bed portion.
Japanese Patent-Application Publication No. HEI-7-328274 describes an internal embroidery-frame drive mechanism type embroidery sewing machine, wherein one end of the bed portion is formed with a free arm and wherein the left-right embroidery-frame drive mechanism and the front-rear embroidery-frame drive mechanism are housed in a base of the sewing machine under the bed portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,941 describes a detachable embroidery-frame drive mechanism type embroidery sewing machine having an embroidery device detachably provided to a free arm portion of the bed. The embroidery device houses a left-right embroidery-frame drive mechanism and a front-rear embroidery-frame drive mechanism for driving movement of an embroidery frame over the upper surface of the bed portion via a movement body provided to the upper surface of the embroidery device.